Content creators vs. Marketers

There is a lot of great marketing information available online on everything from demographics to social media marketing.  However, marketers should be careful to ensure that any content on marketing is actually written by someone who has worked in marketing, not a journalist.

One of the key points that came out of Dan Lyon’s books on Hubspot was that the people who writing ebooks on marketing had no marketing experience.  How in the world can any marketer take advice on how to market a product or brand from someone whose only experience is working at a CMS company that has never turned a profit?

When you read content you need to think about the credibility of the author and ask;

1ne: Has this person ever worked in marketing?

2wo: Were they ever responsible for branding or marketing metrics?

3hree: Is this content meant to inform/educate or is it meant as a press release in disguise?

Those of us who have lived and died by IRI market share numbers or have been called into meetings to explain marketing metrics in relation to sales understand that there is a huge difference between a content creator and a successful marketer.

The other key question that has to be asked, when reading marketing research, is asking the question “how does this apply to my brand/customers?”.  While I believe digital is a necessary part of any marketing mix I can make a pretty good argument that POP and in-store promotion will do a lot more to drive sales than having a robust website and social media presence.

Don’t let others do your thinking for you.  Take all free research with a grain of salt and listen to your prospects and customers.  Never assume that generic and free research applies to your industry and never confuse a journalist with someone who has marketing experience.